Problems for Magnum, or regular preseason routine?

Its at the base of the hill just before the pretzel, right where the trim brake is.

Based on Tony's comment, I would guess they were removing and replacing the trim brake, and needed a car there so they could ensure the trim was properly aligned.

It looks to be replacing the old one... too bad they don't just completely remove it!

Good. I for one am sick of trim brakes, especially after my trip to Kings Island last weekend. The Beast was very disappointing as I grew up with that ride and no trims.

The trims in question are actualy the block brakes. So removing them is not possable.

No, the block brakes are at the end of the ride.

crazy - There are only 4 block areas on Magnum. Station, Lift, Safety (after last tunnel) and Transfer.

The brakes in that photograph are just trim brakes and are not a valid block. As far as I have been able to gather, they are used as a timing mechanism to give the other trains enough time to unload, load and move forward so that the train doesn't stop on the safety brakes.

And to make the return trip slightly less violent with a full train in warm weather.

Yea...the safety block right after the last tunnel is where the car is stopped.

That's why I said they can not be removed.

EDIT!!!

My bad, when I first looked at that picture, it looked like the block right after the last tunnel. It is indeed the trims.

@PrawoJazdy...^^^^^

Unfortunately our memories can play tricks on us. The Beast has never operated a public ride without trims. Here is a video of the Beast testing while it was still under construction, and you can see (and watch) the brakes in action. What you feel is the difference between skid brakes and magnetic brakes....same momentum change, however.

Looks like there were no trims on the drop before the helix on the beast back then.

Epic troll fail!

Raptor - you might want to try reading through the thread before posting.

Sorry for the misinformation guys, I was just going off of what was posted on the other site. My apologies.

Thanks Tony!

I rode The Beast for the first time in 1980 and I remember as did several other people I was with this past weekend that there were no trims in the valley after the first left hand turn and prior to the helix. The '78 test video shows this as well. Actually, the only trims I remember were in the brake shed and prior to the valley after the turn. After this weekend it appears they are now in the valley and during the drop into the first part of helix.

Also an interesting note that I completly forgot about was that the tunnel on the first half of the ride (after the brake shed) was once two parts and there was no tunnel over the helix.

Such an awesome ride, the Beast. Very much my favorite with Magnum being my 2nd favorite. The thought of trims somewhere other than leading into the pretzel would be quite a bummer seeing as what they have done to the beast./

It's interesting that both The Beast and Gemini and the same kind of color gradient on the trains when the rides first opened.

JuggaLotus said:While we're on the subject, is there anything that secures the sand bags to the train? I can't imagine they are allowed to just free float on the floor of the train.

Typically they will link all the bags together on the floor and loop them around the lap bar. They do not just let them sit there.

Thanks 99.

I figured they must do something, otherwise the trains would leave loaded and then they'd have to send someone out to collect all bags before they could be sent again.

An interesting assumption, not borne out by my experiences watching the behavior of left-behind objects on the floor of the Magnum train.

Perhaps most interesting was the AA-size battery that was rolling around on the floor for one trip. It got up almost to seat height a couple of times, but it never left the 'box' defined by the seat ahead, the seat behind, the two sides of the lap bar, the floor, and the seat next to me.

I'm not sure they would lose weight bags if they were just dropped into the train, but it is a good idea to secure them just to make sure that they don't damage the Fiberglas.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

For the sandbags,

yes magnum does use them befor the season starts... they are black 20 pound bags of washers. they tie them all togethher and through the lapbar, usually about 16-18 per row, and only in the front couple cars

unlike Gemini and Mine Ride, we do not have to sandbag during the season. They have to every time it is cold in the morning.